Ofsted inspection as the nominee done Breaking my midweek no drinking rule with a beer

What’s your solution to terrible coffee at school? Coffee bags, aeropress, full on cafetiere, some kind of machine…?

Just finished The Book of Dust and I’m a bit… disappointed. Found things to enjoy about the series but for me it‘s detracted from not added to His Dark Materials Anyone read it and feel similar/different?

Claim to fame of 2026 - I went to school with one of this year’s traitors contestants!

If you’re looking for a Christmas present for the new teacher in your life, do consider What do new teachers need to know? Lots in there to support the development of new teachers Reviews here

If you’re looking for a Christmas present for the new teacher in your life, do consider What do new teachers need to know? Lots in there to support the development of new teachers Reviews here

Observed a teacher today and then gave feedback. All the way through thinking - this person looks familiar Only afterwards I realised I think I taught them. Doh!

I liked the new Frankenstein film (not sure why it changed so much) but at one point a character says, ‘You’re the monster, Victor’ …

NEW POST Almost every school I know has a list of Teaching and Learning or curriculum "non-negotiables." But is that a good term to use in schools? Please share if you can 🙏🙏 substack.com/home/post/p-...

How can you improve behaviour if things haven’t started well? curriculumteamleader.wordpress.com/2024/09/09/f...

Temperature really dropped over night...

Urgh… school coffee is bad, isn’t it?!

Been reading this for months and I’m enjoying it but *spoiler alert* you get 500 pages in and he tells you there are actually two more plots

@adamboxereducation.bsky.social just listened to Craig Barton. Feel we need some Expedition 33 chat. What’s your party/pictos/lumina set up etc? Just finished the main story last night Such a pretty game

Daughters are desperate for term to end so we can play schools in our kitchen

Sunday afternoon crumpet making which is quite a lot of faff and produces crumpets about as good as you can buy…

Routledge have a sale on. Both my books slightly cheaper than Amazon! www.routledge.com/The-Long-Gam...

Spent a lovely bit of time this afternoon registering ECTs for next year who were born well into the 2000s 🤯

Enjoy the sunshine and enjoy this review from @pnjfoster.bsky.social

Useful insights here on the benefits of CFU and how we might frame upcoming checks

Excellent from Nimish on what it means to lead across schools

What’s great about this from @mrarobbins.bsky.social is that it isn’t telling you exactly how your CPD should look Instead, it gives you lots of principles, research and case studies from which you can design CPD that works in your school

Maybe it's just me, but this video plays completely to my teacher-nerd soul. I count 6 discrete strategies here. Here's one to get you thinking - listen to the pacing of his countdown, and think about the tempo in the two different countdowns, and why Jack decides they should be different.

*new* Can we manage workload more effectively? curriculumteamleader.wordpress.com/2025/06/10/c...

The intensity of teaching.... Lots of this resonates with me. Can we make it less intense?

This is great We're incredibly fortunate to have people like Mike translating research into the clear implications for classroom practice

Stephen is that rare thing - a journalist speaking with actual knowledge of the debates about curriculum Well worth a read

Want to keep up with today's @cogscisci.bsky.social conference #edusky? Follow #cogscisci for updates on scaffolding, behaviour, SEND, cognitive research, narratives and much more!

Latest review of The Long Game

Really cool initiative from CogSciSci to try and showcase some of the talks tomorrow - tune in! open.spotify.com/episode/7Dg4...

I’m either at the schools and academies show or having some kind of fever dream

First half marathon in Bristol on a very hot day

Watching the trainee teachers teach my daughters’ swimming lessons this morning, my main observation is that they fit less swimming into 30 minutes

What do new teachers need to know? covers key areas of knowledge for new teachers: - Behaviour - Pedagogy - Subject - Students Read the full intro linked here curriculumteamleader.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/w...

After watching a few interview lessons recently where it hasn’t happened, my top tip is… introduce yourself to the class you’re teaching

Full intro to my book What do new teachers need to know? here If you are a new teacher, you’re working with or you’re appointing new teachers this half term, consider giving it a read curriculumteamleader.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/w...

Full intro to my book What do new teachers need to know? here If you are a new teacher, you’re working with or you’re appointing new teachers this half term, consider giving it a read curriculumteamleader.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/w...

Stephen is one of the very few national journalists/commentators who cares about and actually understands education. This nails the exclusions issue, uses the word correctly, and has a Simpsons joke. Thanks @stephenkb.bsky.social

At the end of this term, if you’re thinking about how to make teaching more sustainable for you or those you lead, check out The Long Game Strategies from research and real teachers www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1032...

"One day, son, our thriving export business will be yours."

At the end of this term, if you’re thinking about how to make teaching more sustainable for you or those you lead, check out The Long Game Strategies from research and real teachers www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1032...

Aside from the pointlessness of showing kids a fictional drama rather than actually doing some legislating, I find it fascinating that officials thought that the barrier to showing a 4hr Netflix drama in school was the subscription, and not a spare 4 hours to show it. www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/adol...

I feel like I am becoming a stuck record on this, but the argument that a greater range of @ofstednews.bsky.social grades will drive schools to higher standards rests on some assumptions which are questionable at best. Here are some of them...